Zetta Elliott's blog

use it or lose it

Publisher’s Weekly did a nice report on the children and YA events from the Brooklyn Book Festival. We had such beautiful sunshine that weekend and now we’ve got days and days of rain…perfect weather for curling up with a book. I’m re-reading Andrea Levy’s The Long Song, which I didn’t especially enjoy the first time around but thought it would make a good addition to my neo-slave narratives course. The students did NOT like the first hundred pages; hopefully they’ll push on and search for meaning in the remaining 200 pages. I taught Wish last week—that was my first time teaching my own novel and it was a little uncomfortable for me. Do the students feel free to express their true opinion of the book knowing that the professor is the author? It’s easier to gauge an audience of strangers. At Thursday night’s reading at Outpost Lounge I was thrilled to meet a librarian who hosted my first author presentation back in 2009. I had connected with a group of literacy coaches and was invited to present Wish during their monthly meeting. I did a terrible job, if I remember correctly, but that librarian kept her copy of Wish and brought it along to Thursday night’s reading. We had a small, supportive group and we talked about the importance of asserting our voices in this distressing political moment—I read for Troy Davis, an innocent man whose voice was silenced by the state of Georgia earlier this week. Use your voice or lose your power—that’s how it goes in this country. Use it or lose it. I was proud to join the chorus of voices gathered by Toshi Reagon for the Word, Rock, & Sword festival.

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10 Responses

Nicely said, Zetta. A little thing like a voice can be so powerful for people and for writers. Considering the number of voices rising up in support of Troy, I’m surprised that the state carried out the execution.

BTW, I love the voice of Genna in A Wish After Midnight. The writing style seems to flow effortlessly and makes the story easy to read. I would have loved to have had a children writer as a teacher back in my day. Your students are lucky.

I think it shows a lot of courage on your part to have your book as one of the readers for your class. However, it’s going to require more courage from your students to critique your writing. I just purchased your book and so far I can not put it down. I also came to the event on Thursday but I was late and didn’t want to come to the back. Someone was reading and I felt it would have been rude to enter at that time. I am glad you had a great experience and my heart goes out to the family of Troy Davis. Freedom of speech is our right yet so many words remain unsaid. silence is the down fall of our generation.

I still think Wish is one of the most interesting books I read last year. I’m sure your students enjoyed it. Ditto what Shellie said– having a teacher who is also a writer must add something. I think it must be exciting for the students.

So great to see the support and voices being raised – you are right, use it or lose it. Also, teaching your own book would be interesting, I hope that students felt free to discuss critically, though I’m not sure I’d have been able to with the author right there!

Thanks for the encouragement, everyone. I’m not sure I would teach my novel again, though every semester I try to make at least one piece of my own writing available to my students. There are definitely ethical issues–I profit from the sale of each book, and I assign the grade should students choose to write about my novel. I’ll keep looking for the right balance–maybe next time I’ll just post a few chapters online or else I’ll assign one of my scholarly essays instead.

Your blog is fantastic, Shelle–and it takes a lot of courage to be so self-reflexive, so give yourself credit for being *willing* to look at your past and actively shape your present and future. In terms of class participation, you get credit for *trying*–not for always having the right answer. We’re all grappling with different issues and *no one* knows everything about black women in the Americas–least of all, me! But if everyone contributes what they do know, we can pool our knowledge and grow as individuals and as a class. If you want to announce your blog in class, let me know, though I understand you may wish to keep it separate from school. I’m sure some of your classmates would be interested in starting a dialogue with you.

Thanks a lot for the feed back. Your class has changed my entire outlook on life and the people around me and it has only been a few weeks. As a result, I feel a sense of enlightenment. You have a beautiful mind.

I will think about sharing my blog with my class mates. I bought your novel, A wish after Midnight, and it would be great if you could get an autograph please:-). It will be my first autograph anything.I brought it to class but was a little shy.
So far, the build up has been great, can’t wait to get to the climax.

Of course! just bring it up after class or you can stop by my office hours. It’s gratifying to know that this course has been so meaningful for you–I look forward to hearing you share your ideas in class.